7 Best Windows VPS Hosting (2025) - $7.99+/mo.

Although you should regularly update a Windows server with the latest security patches, many developers need to install older versions of the software on VPS plans for testing or help with modernizing code.

To keep your software up-to-date and running on the latest Windows Server and ASP.NET releases, choose a managed Windows VPS plan. To support legacy websites or software applications, work with an unmanaged Windows VPS plan.

3. How Much Should a Windows VPS Plan Cost?

There is a lot of competition between web hosting providers in the ultra-affordable or free VPS sector, with prices as low as $5 for 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, and various HDD or SSD storage configurations. Keep in mind, these free VPS plans are typically going to be unmanaged by your VPS provider.

Not all of these platforms will support the Windows OS with their hypervisor. Other service providers may offer Windows Server as a choice of operating system, but you will have to pay for your own license.

The best deals on Windows VPS hosting plans are from managed service providers, where costs can range from around $6 to $25 for similar hardware resources.

Thanks to the wide range of options for support, service, and resources, VPS boasts a much wider range of prices than you’ll see at the shared hosting or dedicated server levels. Depending on your needs, you can spend anywhere from $5 to $25 per month to start.

My mental benchmark for high-quality, affordable Windows VPS server hosting costs hovers around $20 or less per month.

The main difference in price tags often comes down to whether the company runs Windows Server on KVM or Hyper-V virtualization. KVM-based VPS platforms are usually the cheapest.

4. How Do I Choose the Best VPS Hosting Provider?

Well, you’re off to a good start by looking at reviews online. But that’s only part of the job! You’ll also need to compare your top choices. 

Here’s what you should pay special attention to:

1. Resources: I recommend starting with at least 2GB RAM and 2 vCPU for a meaningful step up from shared hosting plans to optimize performance speeds under the same level of web traffic. Although cheaper, the services with just 1GB RAM and 1 vCPU are better suited for proof-of-concept testing and developer sandboxes.
2. Features: Once you scout the pricing on virtual hardware configurations, check out factors such as data center engineering, customer support, guaranteed uptime, and security. Which versions of the Windows OS are supported? How many dedicated IP addresses will you get?
3. Management portal: You won’t be able to run cPanel on Windows VPS, but many companies offer Plesk or an in-house solution as a free alternative. Be sure to check which web panels you can choose from.
4. Reliability: An uptime guarantee is another important factor to consider. What good is your new cheap Windows VPS hosting plan if the virtual server keeps crashing?

With budget Windows VPS packages, users often look for a large package of extra bonus offers like dedicated IP addresses, a free SSL certificate, and software licenses.

Here are some additional perks you should keep an eye out for:

• Flexibility: A major perk of VPS web hosting is the flexibility to adjust the virtual server’s resources. You’ll want to start with plenty of memory, processing, and storage, of course — but you’ll also benefit from being able to add custom software platforms and scale up or down as traffic demands.
• ASP.NET framework support: ASP.NET framework support is another major component in managed Windows VPS plans, which will also allow you to maintain a runtime version in production, install extensions, staging environments, conduct linting tests, restore backups, and automate Microsoft security updates.
• Developer friendliness: Many programming teams use Windows  VPS hosting plans for Agile development. The ability to launch, test, and sandbox in virtual server environments across the software development pipeline is vital.

Programming teams need to optimize various approaches to DevOps, CI/CD, and version control to synchronize with Visual Studio, GitHub, or other tools across multiple developer desktops.

5. What are the Differences Between Windows and Linux VPS?

The biggest difference between Windows and Linux hosting is open-source licensing and community development — and the expenses that come with that.
 

Although not every Linux distribution is free to use, all are open-source licensed under the GNU general public license. Linux evolved to compete with UNIX, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, BSD, and other proprietary operating systems.

Which OS you run on your VPS can make a huge difference. Many of the world’s largest businesses stay loyal to Microsoft Windows for corporate security and legal compliance, despite the added licensing costs.

The ability to run ASP.NET and PHP apps together has been unique to Windows servers until recently, when the ASP.NET framework was modified to run on any OS or VPS server.

In part because of the high licensing costs for Windows Server (a Standard license costs roughly $1,000, while the Datacenter Edition carries a price tag of more than $6,000), Microsoft has not had as major of a presence in web hosting data centers.

In contrast to Windows Server licensing costs, many web hosting companies offer Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, and CloudLinux for free, while companies like Red Hat and SUSE primarily promote enterprise subscriptions with attached consulting or service contracts.

6. When Do I Need Shared Web Hosting or a Virtual Private Server?

With shared Windows hosting, budget plans start as low as $6 per month and range upward to $25 or more per month.

The pricing is pretty reasonable, but even the highest-tier shared plans will give you fewer resources than the lowest-tier VPSes. The benefit of choosing a shared Windows plan is that it’s geared toward beginners, so if that’s you, you’ll benefit from an easy-to-manage plan.

I wouldn’t want to try managing a virtual private server with no experience — that’s a recipe for disaster, honestly. A VPS is better for people with more experience, like web developers and companies with a dedicated IT team. 

You can, however, opt for a managed VPS plan, where the company takes care of all the server’s setup and maintenance, but that comes with an extra monthly fee. 

If your website sees roughly 30,000 monthly visitors, a shared web host can accommodate your site’s needs. Much more than that and you might start receiving internal errors or experiencing intermittent downtimes; you’ll need to consider a virtual server or dedicated hosting plan.

The customizable features of a VPS hosting plan give you far more scalability than more affordable shared hosting.

VPS plans now commonly scale up to and beyond what has been traditionally reserved for dedicated server plans. Elite virtual private server configurations will overperform for high-traffic websites at cheaper prices than a lot of cloud service providers.

7. What are the Differences Between a VPS and a Dedicated Server?

A dedicated server gives away its purpose in its name: it dedicates an entire server to your website. That means you get all the computing power it has. 

VPS or virtual private server plans are designed to function exactly like a dedicated server but share an operating system kernel at the root level of the hardware.

A dedicated server is most frequently a bare-metal plan, but most customers prefer a managed approach where the hosting provider oversees the full LAMP or WAMP stack.

In cheaper, unmanaged plans, a dedicated server is a blank slate for customers to install and run whatever software they choose. This is common for custom code in high-traffic websites or mobile application requirements.

There are also differences as to whether the web host supports Windows Server licensing and at what price for VPS vs. dedicated servers. Some VPS platforms do not support Windows Server at all.

Most unmanaged VPS platforms now scale to the same level or above traditional dedicated servers in hardware allocation but bill at cheaper rates than dedicated hosting or the public cloud.

8. Which Hosts Offer Managed VPS Services?

The two main types of Windows VPS hosting are managed and unmanaged platforms. The advantage of managed hosting platforms is that the web hosting company will keep the VPS up-to-date with the latest security patches for your server.

On unmanaged VPS plans, developers can install and configure any Windows Server version they want, but will need to implement security measures on their own.

Both plans bill similarly according to the CPU core number, amount of dedicated RAM, or SSD storage. Bandwidth is usually metered monthly on VPS plans by the web host, but a select few unlimited bandwidth VPS plans exist.

For managed Windows VPS plans, we reviewed and tested each web hosting service to identify the best options. These five companies are at the top of our list for 2025 as the best Windows VPS hosting:

The main criteria we sought in managed Windows VPS providers were strong support for ASP.NET development, elite hardware, and low cost.

We also valued the ability to maintain custom configurations to support legacy code or standards that facilitated software modernization and cloud migration for small businesses.

Here are the key points: 

• Hostwinds, which promises a remarkable 99.9999% uptime, offers remote desktop access with virtual network computing (VNC) options, as well as Plesk for web server and domain name management.
• Kamatera is a licensed Microsoft partner, so you have the advantage of a managed VPS platform with included licensing costs. You can start quickly and license additional Microsoft products at a discount through the Kamatera platform. Combined with personalized customer support, Kamatera is a great option for professional projects with custom code or database requirements and ASP.NET programming teams.
• If you need elite hardware configurations and the top data center engineering to back your managed Windows VPS plan, consider Liquid Web. The company’s hardware benchmarks are faster than AWS, Rackspace, and Digital Ocean.
• GoDaddy is another industry leader with managed VPS plans that are priced for small business and developer requirements. 

9. How Do I Get Started With a Windows Hosting Plan?

Unlike shared hosting, you don’t always need to commit to a long-term contract to get the best deals on VPS hosting.

Many companies, including Hostwinds and Kamatera, offer fixed-rate monthly or hourly billing on managed Windows VPS plans.

A two-year deal is the best way to lock in elite hardware at Liquid Web at the lowest prices. Alternatively, the advantage of GoDaddy is integrated domain name management from the world’s largest registrar.

To get started with a managed Windows VPS plan, look at the options provided by the companies listed and choose the one that best fits the requirements of your project.

• Best for flexible billing: Hostwinds
• Best hardware: Liquid Web
• Best for developers: Kamatera
• Fastest VPS:A2 Hosting
• Best for domain names:GoDaddy
• Most affordable: AccuWebHosting
• Best for small businesses: GoDaddy
• Best for enterprises: Liquid Web

GoDaddy boasts the most capital resources and largest customer base. Liquid Web acquired a significant part of Rackspace’s elastic server resources and is one of the most innovative hosting companies in the sector.

In contrast, Kamatera and Hostwinds are challenging the public cloud and shared hosting companies with a hybrid cloud VPS option. These are also suitable for Forex VPS options and algorithm-driven trading apps.

AccuWebHosting is the best of the cheap Windows VPS hosts for budget users and independent developers. The platform is technically advanced, with support for many ASP.NET and Windows Server standards under a managed approach.

Be prepared to verify your identity and billing address to sign up as a new customer with a web hosting company like A2 Hosting that implements stringent anti-fraud protection.

If you are a freelance or independent programmer building ASP.NET solutions, AccuWeb Hosting is a great VPS Windows choice.

Whatever your choice, myself and my team at HostingAdvice have thoroughly vetted these options. As long as you keep your specific needs in mind, you can’t go wrong.